Highly Efficient One Pot Electrocatalytic Method for Transforming Alcohols to Nitriles

A one pot electrocatalytic method was developed for the oxidative transformation of alcohols into nitriles in a two-phase aqueous-organic medium: methylene chloride–aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution. Under the proposed conditions, the catalytic system 4-acetylamino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl–pyridine base with the participation of ammonium iodide makes it possible to convert a wide range of alcohols into nitriles with good to excellent yields (81–99%) without the use of catalysts based on toxic metals, hazardous reagents and/or oxidizing agents. In the synthesis, ammonium iodide is simultaneously a source of nitrogen and iodine, and also functions as a component of the background electrolyte.